by Tinalynge
Moving towards the inner regions of the city and looking for a high class inn, Xu Min’s eyes were caught by a pharmacy. Looking at this, the young man tapped his bag and moved inside. He completely ignored the glances given by the citizens around him.
Xu Min wore simple clothes which were the clothes he had gotten from Overseer Wang Li back when he lived at Honghe City. They were clearly the clothes of a worker. For him to enter a high end pharmacy was something which caused much interest on those who walked on the street. However, only a few of the curious citizens entered the store to see what would happen.
Xu Min had long since guessed that these citizens were curious about him. Ignoring them, he went to the desk where a middle-aged woman was standing. Looking at the young man, the woman could not help but frown her nose. She wondered why such a weak person would have entered her esteemed shop.
She did not have to wait long. After a few moments, Xu Min had reached the counter. As soon as he did, he swept his hand across the counter and placed down four herbs he had no clue of what use they had. The moment he placed them down, shock and greed became visible in the woman’s eyes. Her expression no longer was loathing, but was extremely welcoming.
“Greetings, my good sir,” she said with a gentle and pleasant voice. “Am I correct to believe that you are willing to sell these herbs?” she asked while licking her lips. She tried to moisten them as she felt deeply shocked.
Seeing her expression, a sly smile appeared on Xu Min’s face as he shrugged carelessly. The shop itself was filled with customers as they all held their breaths in excitement. For many citizens, this was some of the most exciting thing they had seen in the recent days.
“I am looking to sell,” Xu Min said with a slow voice. He was dragging on every word and making the woman wait for the ‘but’. The young man did indeed say a ‘but’ as he continued his sentence.
‘I am indeed looking to sell,” he repeated, “But, you see these herbs were quite dangerous for me to gain.” he continued, “I am only selling them if I am getting a good price. After all, I did risk my life to get them.”
Hearing the words, the woman’s face turned slightly sour. After only a few moments had she managed to control her facial expression once more. She was all smiles once more as she looked at the herbs.
These herbs were all rare herbs. They were herbs she could sell to the upper families within the city. The woman could use them to invite alchemists or other important people to the city.
Gnashing her teeth, she looked at the young man in front of her who had a wry but indifferent smile on his face. His eyes were curiously scrutinizing the shop as though this had nothing to do with him.
Looking at him, the woman could instantly tell that this young man was perfectly well aware of the value of his herbs. She came to the conclusion of giving a serious offer from the start in case he would get insulted and move to another pharmacy to sell. That was without a doubt something which she could not afford that he did.
Looking at the herbs on the desk, she took one and placed it away from the rest. Pointing at that herb, her soul somewhat trembled as it was the rarest amongst them. After a short break came her offer. “I will offer you one thousand gold coins for this one,” she said. Her eyes clearly had a pained expression. “The rest of them I can’t pay more than five hundred gold coins for a piece.”
Hearing the valuation, Xu Min had to swallow a little as he was caught off guard. He expected that they were worth an amazing sum of money, but this was far above every expectation that he had. He was even more so surprised considering that he had a whole bag stuffed full of the herbs.
Xu Min was not the only one shocked within the shop. The entire shop was still filled with curious citizens. As soon as they heard the value that these herbs were worth, they were all stunned into silence. Some tried to squeeze up towards the counter to see these amazing herbs.
Fortunately enough for Xu Min, no cultivators had entered the pharmacy. Only commoners did which meant that no one would try to steal the herbs from him. As a commoner, one had to be suicidal to battle a One-Star Warrior.
Saying that these commoners were not cultivators was quite the wrong phrase. Everyone throughout their lives cultivated in one way or another. One's body would always change throughout the years by coming into contact with the essence of the heavens and the earth. However, these commoners had not had the time to prioritize cultivation over their chores or every day lives. This resulted in them only becoming Two or Three-Star Warriors throughout their entire lives. Many of them would only be a few hundred years of age before aging and dying.
Although some of them were One-Star Warriors much like Xu Min, none of these men were cultivators. None of them knew about the random martial arts nor did they know about how to use their strength. Considering this, no one wished to participate in a battle against a real cultivator.
Xu Min was still slightly hesitating. The reason he hesitated was not because he was unhappy with the price, but rather because he was truly astonished by it. However, the lady did not know this. After clearing her throat once, she gritted her teeth and spoke once more. “Eleven hundred is the absolute highest price I can pay for this herb,” she said. Her heart bled thinking of all the gold coins she would have to spend. At the same time, it was definitely worth it.
The herb was known as a Yearning Sunflower. It was a flower which only grew within the densest areas of a forest where no sunshine would ever reach. On the other hand, the petals looked as though it were a small sun. The taller the stalk was, the older it was. The older the flower was, the more precious it was.
This flower had gotten its name as it would always grow towards the sun. Should the flower succeed in reaching sunlight, it would mutate and become a Lustful Sunflower. This was a flower that never received enough sunlight and always begged for more.
The Yearning Sunflower Xu Min had brought with him today was at least fifty years old as the stalk was quite tall. Selling it to a high ranking eccentric expert or an alchemist would bring in tens of thousands gold coins. If she was unlucky, she could not find a collector interested in the flower. In that case, it was only worth two to three thousand coins. This was why she had sat at such a low buyout price. Before she could sell, she needed to get her hands on the flower first.
Seeing the nervousness in the shopkeeper's face, Xu Min shook his head and nodded vigorously. The price was definitely much better than what he had expected. With great happiness did he wait for the woman to receive the money. She took out clear card made of jade and handed it to the young man who curiously took it to see what it was.
One has to know that Xu Min never really dealt with money before. Back in Honghe City, he had never been paid anything from Overseer Wang Li. The money he had received in the town on the border of Snake’s Forest had been given to him in cash.
Now he was handed a clear card made from white jade, his face was filled with questions when he received it. Looking at his confused face, the lady could not help but laugh a little.
Chapter 23 - Jade Card
“This is a White Jade Card,” the lady said with a laughter. “Jade Cards can be found in both green and white jade. The Green Jade Cards can hold up to one thousand gold coins while the White Jade Card can hold up to ten thousand gold coins.”
“I’m giving you a White Card containing eleven hundred for the Yearning Sunflower and fifteen hundred for the three other herbs,” she said. She gestured towards the three herbs at the other side of the counter, “In total, this Jade Card contains two thousand six hundred gold coins.”
“All the decent shops within this city accepts Jade Cards as a form of payment so you should be all set now.” Having given a short introduction of the Jade Cards, the woman no longer paid any attention towards Xu Min. Instead, she paid her full attention towards the Yearning Sunflower. Her face was filled with smiles and expectations of what she would use it for.
Seeing that the woman no longer paid attention to X
u Min, the young man took the Jade Card and looked at it. No matter how much he stared, it looked exactly like a very plain Jade Card. Had it not been for the customers’ reactions within the shop when the woman pulled out the white jade card, Xu Min would have been certain that he was being tricked.
Now that he had seen greed in the men’s eyes around him, he quickly stored the card within his robes and left the store. One again, he started hunting down an inn where he could feed the snake a meal that it deserved.
Walking through the streets, Xu Min had soon noticed that he had reached the upper class stores within the city. His appearance was far away from someone who belonged within the town. Everyone stared at him with blatant mockery within their eyes.
Even if he managed to find an inn that sold delicious food for the snake, the young man was quite certain that they would bar him from entering due to his clothes. When a clothing store appeared by the side of the road, Xu Min did not think twice before he entered the shop.
Entering a shop which specialized in clothes was a completely new experience for Xu Min. All his clothes had been previously gifted to him by Wang Li. None of it had been sewn to him, but instead had all been oversized so that he could grow in it.
Xu Min did not mind the clothes being baggy nor did he mind that they were a bit oversized. He did not even care about what others thought of him. However, he did care about keeping the promise he had made. He was perfectly aware that his life had been saved quite a few times by the snake coiled around his neck.
If paying the snake back meant that he had to no longer look like a country bumpkin or a manual worker, then so be it. Although the store was a new experience for him, he still entered. He wore nothing but his clothes and looked like a worker.
The store clerk instantly went towards the young man. His face was frowning and his nose wrinkled. He expected the young man to be have a foul odor. As he came closer, he noticed the young man withdraw a White Jade Card from his clothing. The frown instantly disappeared and his unsightly expression changed to a gentle, kind, and welcoming visage.
“Welcome, my good sir!” the clerk said as he clasped his hands together. Afterwards, he was gesturing for the young man to follow him. “What can we do for you today?” he asked with a gentle voice as he was constantly staring at the White Jade Card in the hands of the customer. The store clerk wondered where this young master had come from.
“I need a set of clothes. I don’t want anything gaudy nor do I want anything excessive. Just a set of ordinary clothes of good fabric,” Xu Min answered. He was not completely sure what to say or how to convey his intentions.
Although he had money now, he had never had money in his hands before. He was very worried about spending it all and becoming penniless with a snake which seemed to enjoy eating as much as a full grown dragon.
Hearing the description, the man nodded his head for some time. Without wasting any time what so ever, he suddenly returned with a few sets of clothes. One of these sets, Xu Min instantly liked. It was a black shirt with black trousers. Attached to the set was a black robe. The robe was lined with a simple red border and a red belt.
Looking at that set of clothes, Xu Min instantly picked it. The clothes were made from the best materials around. While wearing it, the young man could definitely feel the difference between his previous clothes and this set. It was as though he was wearing clouds as his clothes were light on his body and felt soft and durable.
Sewing the robe to fit Xu Min’s size did not take long. As soon as it had been sewn, Xu Min handed over the White Jade Card which the clerk took thirteen gold coins.
Thirteen gold coins was an astronomical amount of money for a set of clothes. However, Xu Min had chosen the best materials they had within the store. Looking at the clothes now, it was definitely worth every coin.
Walking on the street no longer caused anyone to look at him. Although he was still unwashed and weary, the clothes he now wore was enough to make him fit into the upper class of the town.
After having wandered about for another good hour, Xu Min finally started to smell the scent of delicious food. As he followed this scent, he ended in front of a massive building built solely from marble. The windows were open and the scent of food wafted out together with light and cheerful sounds.
Entering this building, Xu Min quickly found that two floors were used as restaurants and the residence area was above this. Walking to the counter, he was flabbergasted to find that almost every table was already filled with customers. As Xu Min entered, quite a few were looking his way. He felt that the majority of the customers inside the shop were cultivators.
Being aware that he was watched, Xu Min went to the counter. With a low voice, he asked for a room in which he could board for a week.
This was a high class inn and even the rooms were much more luxurious than those of smaller inns. As a result, they charged an astonishing twelve silver coins a night. Hearing this, Hui Yue intentionally picked up one gold coin from his bag and handed it to the owner.
Xu Min intentionally chose to use cash. He knew that he was currently being observed. If he was dumb enough to bring out his White Jade Card now, it was highly likely that he would be tailed and killed so that someone could steal his money.
Although one gold coin was a lot, it was not unnatural for travellers to pay a high fee for a good bed, bath, and delicious foods.
Xu Min had also ordered that some plates of food were to be brought to his room. In the end, not many tips were left for the man behind the desk.
Accepting the keys and moving upstairs, Xu Min kept his full attention at the dining room. He knew that there still were a few cultivators who were eyeing him. As long as they did not follow him, he saw no reason to start a fight.
As he entered the room, he could not help but whistle in amazement. This was anything but the plain room he had lived in together with Wang Li. The room itself was a little bigger than the room he had shared with the Overseer for years. It was an suite where the bathroom was located right next to the bedroom. The bathroom had a submerged bath and steam wafted out from the deep water. A look of delight appeared on Xu Min’s eyes.
Just as he was about to undress and enter the water, he heard a knocking on his door. The once blissful expression on his face became serious. His body instantly turning vigilant and he slowly made his way to open the door only to realize that it was the food he had ordered.
Plate after plate entered through the door. Before long, the table was filled with delectable and enticing foods. Nodding gratefully, Xu Min closed the door behind the servant who vanished down the stairs. He moved towards the table.
The scent of the food was filling the entire room and Xu Min no longer thought about the warm bath. Instead, he sat down at the table and gently patted the snake’s head to rouse it from its deep sleep.
The gentle pats roused the snake with a soft and comfortable touch. Soon, the snake’s face lifted slightly and its tongue slithered in the air. Its beautiful green eyes opened, but they initially seemed as though Cao Cao’s mind was in a bit of a disarray. After a few moments, the scent of the food caused the snake to close his eyes and inhale strongly.
‘You are not a bad human,’ the snake said with a blissful smile on its face. It slowly made its way down to the table where he started to slowly eat one plate of food after another. Seeing that Cao Cao was eating quickly, Xu Min could not help allow a laughter to ring out through the rooms they had booked. He quickly sat down at the table and ate the foods together with the snake. He quickly hurried to fill his stomach before everything had vanished.
When all the food had been eaten, a chuckle could be heard from the small snake as it slithered around on the table. It was looking around to ensure that every meal had been eaten. Although he had eaten far more than the size of his body, its stomach was not the slightest bit bulging outwards.
Having rested in the chair for some time, both the snake and the boy went to the bath. They allowed f
or their sore muscles to rest and removed the dirt that had been growing on their skins.
Although Xu Min was in a hotel and the bed was soft and comfortable, the young man spent no time sleeping. Instead, he sat with his legs crossed on the soft mattress while he cultivated. He was refining the essence of the heavens and the earth which allowed for him to gain more Qi.
Refining the essence from the heavens and the earth was something that took time. Although Xu Min was working hard, he was still only an early stage One-Star Warrior. Having battled within the forest, he had understood how weak he was. His plan was to settle himself within the city until he managed to reach a Two or Three-Star Warrior. To keep travelling in the world filled with cultivators, the weak would be swallowed up by the strong. Forcing himself to become a part of it too was something which wasn’t considered bravery. Instead, it was clearly stupidity. Thinking about it like this, Xu Min could not help but wonder why Wang Li had decided to send him away as soon as he managed to reach the One-Star Warrior rank.
